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Kariola Enterprises is an established slave-training operation, well-known for bringing excellently trained sex slaves to the twice-a-year slave auctions. Jake Kariola has a penchant for helping boyfriends and husbands get rid of the women in their lives, turning these kidnapped women into eager, obedient slaves willing to do anything for their masters. Only now, Jake and his assistant have a new problem on their hand when a rival slave trader decides he wants in on their operation.

WARNING: This book contains scenes of non-consensual sex and violence. Read at your own risk!

Their package delivered safely, Jake and Len sat in a small coffeehouse watching the pretty, young barista artfully preparing drinks for
the customers. Her movements were a ballet of economy, weaving among the other workers behind the counter with precision and grace. Both men
watched her for professional reasons as well as for pure enjoyment.
“She’s next?”
Jake nodded, sipping his hot chocolate with an extra dash of cinnamon. “No parents, no siblings. Boyfriend sold her out.” He shook his
head. “Scumbag. She’s well rid of him.”
“Have they broken up?”
Jake shook his head. “He’s planning to file a missing person’s report. When she doesn’t show in a year, he collects on insurance.”
Len shook his head at the greed so many of their clients displayed. Of course, without that greed, they’d be out of business. And the
women they trained loved what they became. What woman wouldn’t? Put on a pedestal, showed off, made to feel beautiful and sexy? Some women
even found love with their Masters, although that didn’t concern either of the men who sat watching. Their job was to train. After that…the
slaves lived, or died, on their own wits.
Most women, he corrected himself. Some women didn’t have the temperament to become slaves. The one they’d just delivered was testament
to that. You were either born submissive or born Dominant. While it was true some people could switch, the reality was that, in life, you
were either one or the other.
“Take that one, for example.” Jake’s chin jutted out at the pretty woman now handing over a steaming cup to a customer and Len realized
he hadn’t been paying attention to his boss.
“What about her?”
“Look at the way she drops her eyes every time a man speaks to her. Watch her body language. You can tell a lot about where they are on
the spectrum by the way they interact in their everyday lives.”
Len watched as the pretty barista took the next order. The customer, older but distinguished-looking, didn’t so much as glance at her,
his gaze intent on the menu hanging behind her. With quick, professional movements, she filled his request and rang up the sale. Len
frowned. So far he didn’t see anything that pointed either way.
But then she handed him the drink and sure enough, her eyes dropped as he looked directly at her. She dropped her head in a tiny,
submissive nod and Len grinned.
The barista waited on a woman next and Len watched to see if she did the same thing. He noted how her shoulders squared when talking
with the woman, who looked her in the eye. Still maintaining a professional demeanor, he could see from here that her attitude was
different. He watched her through several more customers before deciding she definitely showed submissive tendencies with both, but they
were far more pronounced when dealing with men than with women.
Jake leaned a little closer. “So…tell me what you’ve been seeing.”
“She makes initial eye contact with both men and women, but treats them differently. Not obviously so, but if you’re watching…”
“Which you are. Go on.”
“She’s brusquer with women. No, that’s too harsh a word. More…distant. Shows respect, but not much more. Still drops her eyes at the end
of the sale with them, though.”
“And with men?”
Len grinned as another man came up to the counter and she began her routine all over again. He dissected it for his boss.
“She looks him in the eye, then either drops the gaze immediately or watches as he breaks it. See? This guy knows what he wants, so he’s
not looking at the board, he’s looking at her. So her eyes are down. Now, watch her as she makes the drink.
“There…did you see that? Still professional, still keeping her mind on the task, but the little blush? This guys a hunk and she’s
responding to his obvious appeal.”
Len kept up his commentary as she turned back to her customer. “Now watch. She’ll take his money, make change and only look into his
eyes once at the very end.”
Sure enough, that was exactly what the woman did. Jake looked like a proud papa. “Excellently noted, my friend. Now…why the last look
up?”
Len sipped his black coffee and considered. “It’s almost as if she’s looking for some reassurance that she did a good job.”
“And so the pupil becomes the master.” Jake grinned. “If you’re finished, we’re done here.”
Jake dropped a large bill into the barista’s tip jar on their way out, giving her a wink. As expected she blushed and bowed her head,
calling out after them, “Thank you, sir!” Only Jake and Len knew how soon she’d learn so say those words in a very different way.
They’d already returned the panel truck they’d used for their delivery before stopping for coffee and reconnaissance. As they drove
their regular van back to the warehouse, Len brought up the slave who waited for their return.
“What do you want to do with Cloudhealer?”
“You do realize you broke a cardinal rule with her…”
“You mean buying a slave instead of selling. Yeah, I know.” Len had good reasons behind the purchase and knew he could support every one
of them.
A grocery store came into view on their right and Jake pulled the van into the parking lot. “We’re out of milk,” he explained as he
parked. “Will be just a minute.”
“I’ll come in. Cloudhealer gave me a list.”
“And that’s the rule you broke.”
“Letting her give me a grocery list? I thought you wanted her to take over the cooking…”
Jake shook his head and paused in the act of getting out of the van. “No, that’s not it. You allowed her her name.”
Len shut the passenger door and considered as they wove through the parked cars to the store’s entrance.
He didn’t want to admit it, but Jake was right. While he still considered the little female to be a slave, she had become a slave with a
name. And that gave her a status higher than all the other slaves they’d ever trained. He pulled the list out of his pocket and noted the
neat script, the items grouped together as he’d find them in the store and sighed.
“So what do we do about it?” he asked his boss as they waited in line several minutes later with their cart. He didn’t need to tell Jake
what he was talking about.
Jake shrugged. “Nothing. We both think of her by her name now and that’s not going to change.” He looked at the man he was training to
be an equal partner in the business, driving home one more lesson. “Just know that it does change the relationship. She’s becoming a part of
our lives and selling her will be that much more difficult.”
An older woman who stood in line in front of them turned around and gave them an astonished look. Jake smiled that rakish, charming
smile he had and bowed to her.
“Dog had a litter of puppies,” he explained. “We had one left and he went and named her.”
“Oh, dear. You’ll never be able to give her up now. Why I remember…”
Len chuckled as the woman went on and on about the dog she’d had as a child. Jake listened intently, prodding her with questions until
she’d paid her grocery bill and left. Even the cashier got in on the conversation, asking about the breed. Len admired Jake’s ability to
improvise, then realized this was all a part of the game to him. Outwardly the two of them led normal, ordinary lives. They drank coffee,
did grocery shopping…all the normal errands normal people do in the course of their day. Nothing distinguished the two of them from any
other two random guys. Except that, after running all these errands, most men went home to wives, girlfriends or significant others. Jake
and Len went home and trained slaves.
Loading the groceries into the van didn’t take long and once back inside, they picked up the conversation as if there hadn’t been any
interruption. Len squinted out the window at the bright sunlight as he reflected on Cloudhealer’s abilities.
“I’m trying to think how she could be useful.”
“I’m thinking her medical skills could create a whole new area of training we haven’t gone into before.”
“You mean needles.”
Len shrugged. “Among other things.”
Jake considered. They’d used needle play on a limited basis before, but the women they dealt with were so new to the whole thing they
rarely went very far. With Cloudhealer, it might be possible to do a demonstration-type training, as the slave obviously had lots of
experience in bondage and BDSM.
“We are two people down…” Len added.
“Good point.”
The last partner hadn’t worked out well. Then Tony had died and they’d gone from a four-person operation down to just the two of them.
Nabbing the brunette behind the counter was going to be tough with just the two of them. Was there a way to work Cloudhealer into the deal?
And did he trust her enough?
Jake sipped his drink as he realized he did. They both did. Cloudhealer had proven several times that she could be trusted. And she
certainly seemed eager enough to submit…
“All right.” He pulled into the alley that led to the warehouse’s back door. “Let’s go bring her into the fold and make plans.”

Author Information

In another life, Mystic Shade writes erotic romances with happy endings. With Mystic, however, you'll find no such pleasantries. Here it's time to give into the shadier sides of our desires...